Firefighters prepare for disaster

Clay, Harris Twp. take part in grueling 80-hour FEMA class.

Clay, Harris Twp. take part in grueling 80-hour FEMA class.

November 22, 2005|ALICIA GALLEGOS Tribune Staff Writer

Natural disasters don't seem to be selective about where or when they will strike, especially considering this month's deadly tornado near Evansville. The threat of these tragedies is one reason local firefighters say it's essential to be trained in various types of structural collapse rescues. But it doesn't just take a widespread catastrophe for the skills to come in handy. "It could be something as simple as a car going through a house, said Capt. Brian Kazmierzak, "or a snow load on a roof." Kazmierzak has firsthand knowledge of urban search-and-rescue techniques, being an alumni of the FEMA Structural Collapse Technician class held annually in Virginia Beach, Va. This year, Kazmierzak served as an instructor while four of his fellow Clay firefighters attended the 80-hour class along with two firefighters from Harris Township. "For me this was one of the single (biggest) challenges I've had as a firefighter," said Clay firefighter Andrew Roberts. The class incorporates aspects of the most dangerous rescues -- situations that require expertise in shoring fallen buildings, breaking and breaching, working with high-tech tools, heavy lifting and moving. A specific example, Roberts explained, is attempting to cut steel hanging on a girder, while perched in a crane basket as everything around you is moving. "It's something you just don't think about," he said. The intense training for firefighters was primarily hands-on and pushed them just as a real emergency situation would, they said. Days for the students began around 7 a.m. and often ended 12 to 14 hours later. Firefighters also had to bring their own water and work with limited resources. "You got five to six hours of sleep a day," said Lucas Gluchowski, who became a squad leader during the class. Gluchowski said the class included firefighters from all over the county and showed them the importance of teamwork despite different ways of doing something. Just as with firefighting, safety was the No. 1 priority during the class, according to firefighters, especially when using oversized tools like hydraulic chain saws and core drills. At the end of the training, students had to respond to a simulated deployment where instructors merely took a safety role and watched the trainees go to work. Some of the final emergency predicaments included a pancake-style collapsed building, where multiple floors had fallen on top of each other, and a car with a bomb inside that smashed through a building. "It wasn't just one thing," explained Gluchowski. When his firefighters returned home, Clay Fire Territory Chief Timm Schabbel could easily tell how hard they had worked during the class. "(They were) physically and mentally exhausted," he said. "You can look at them and pretty much tell." But the training was well worth it, the participants said and Schabbel hopes to send more firefighters to the training next year. "We're in people's worst day business," he said. "These teams are designed to come help when something very big and bad happens." The new group of local FEMA Structural Collapse Technician graduates are called the Mabas Division 201 Tactical Rescue Team.